Friends, we really need your help this week!I know, we’re saying that all the time these days, but it’s so true! The legislature is posing multiple threats to our water.1) Please attend a press conferenceMonday, February 9 at 10:00 a.m. in the McManus conference room (252M), on the hallway near the House chamber.Members of the WV Safe Water Roundtable have organized this press conference to express our deep concern about the number of bills that propose to weaken water protections. To demonstrate that citizens are alarmed about this, we need to fill the room with people who want to drink clean water!

2) We are expecting the ASTA-gutting bill (S.B.423) to show up on the agenda of Senate Judiciary any day. Please contact committee members and tell them you are outraged that the legislature would repeal the drinking water protections that were passed unanimously last year in the wake of the Freedom Industries spill. Talking points and details are provided in our newsletter post here.

3)Category A: We are expecting S.B. 167 to show up again this week—probably Wednesday–on the agenda of the Senate Natural Resources Committee, along with a “committee” amendment that would reverse the intent of the bill, which is to restore “Category A” (drinking water) status to the section of the Kanawha River that runs through Charleston. Please contact committee members, in particular Chairman Robert Karnes, and tell them to 1) restore Category A status to the Kanawha, and 2) continue Category A protection for streams statewide.

The House version of the Category A bill (H.B. 2289) is on the agenda of the House Industry and Labor Committee at 8:00 a.m. Tuesday, February 10. Please contact the committee members and tell them you want them to pass the bill without amendment. And if you can, please show up at the committee meeting in Room 215E. The presence of clean water supporters in the room can really make a difference.

For talking points and details, see our Category A newsletter post here.